If there can’t be a nightspot honoring Bob Dylan on the Iron Range, can anything survive on the Iron Range?

Aaron J. Brown writes on his Minnesota Brown blog today that a crowdstarter campaign has kicked off to reopen Zimmy’s, the Hibbing night spot and restaurant that closed abruptly last spring.

In truth, this campaign would need a lot of people to join together for it to succeed. But maybe one person reading this sees an investment opportunity that has some heart and soul to it. It is a chance to keep the flame of culture that lit Bobby Zimmerman’s path off the Iron Range, and burns still as a beacon to those who would one day journey to the North Country fair.

The campaign — on Indiegogo — has a $200,000 goal and has raised a little under $4,000 so far.

If we are the unofficial Bob Dylan museum of Hibbing, we are a living museum. In an increasingly fragmented society, even in small towns like ours, we need local places to connect, converse, and feel welcome. It could be said of many of our visitors that they came seeking Bob Dylan, but they ended up finding Hibbing. As a visitor in one of our many guest books put it: “So many people…so many memories, and only one place like Zimmy’s on Earth. Maybe it’s the atmosphere, the people, or a longing for days gone by, but this place feels like home.”

About the blogger

Bob Collins has been with Minnesota Public Radio since 1992, emigrating to Minnesota from Massachusetts. He was senior editor of news in the ’90s, ran MPR’s political unit, created the MPR News regional website, invented the popular Select A Candidate, started the two most popular blogs in the history of MPR and every day laments that his Minnesota Fantasy Legislature project never caught on.

NewsCut is a blog featuring observations about the news. It provides a forum for an online discussion and debate about events that might not typically make the front page. NewsCut posts are not news stories but reflections , observations, and debate.